Monday, May 11, 2015

2015 Trip Has Begun in Boston!


All packed and ready to go
Before I start just a note that all pictures on here you can get by right clicking and saving. Feel free!!!!


Well we finally made it to Boston, Massachusetts this morning at 7:00 AM Eastern time.....1:00 AM Molokai time. We are running on little energy as you'll see by a video at the bottom! All of the flights went well though and everybody is in great spirits. We started off the morning with a breakfast buffet at the Hard Rock Cafe. We then hit the ground running for the rest of the day. The weather was great. Even a little too hot for periods during the morning.
54 Regiment Memorial
We started off the morning at the beginning of the Freedom Trail that starts at the Boston Commons. We saw a memorial that is dedicated to the soldiers of the 54 Regiment of the Union that fought in the Civil War. You may recognize the memorial on the right from the movie Glory. The 54th was the first regiment of all black soldiers that fought for the Union. Their leader was Robert Gould Shaw who died with his soldiers and was from Boston.
Memorial to the 54 Regiment

Being told about the gold roof of the state house
Lots of sites along the Freedom Trail including the State House of Massachusetts. You'll notice that the roof of the State House is covered entirely in gold!
State House of Massachusetts
Old Granary Burial Ground

Walking along the Freedom Trail
Riding the Democratic Donkey at the Old City Hall
More donkey business



Shekinah and Nicole with Paul Revere's tomb
Paul Revere Tomb


Site of the Boston Massacre










The Old Granary Burial Ground is a graveyard with many famous people buried there. Paul Revere, Sam Adams, John Hancock, victims of the Boston Massacre, and Ben Franklin's parents being some of the people buried here. There are many interesting graves with skulls and crossbones on the tomb.



There are lots of stops along the Freedom Trail. We got to stand where the Boston Massacre happened. And for the first time out of all of the trips, we got to go inside Paul Revere's house. The house was built in 1680. It is a very small house but for the time, it was considered a rich persons home. Paul Revere left this house the night he did his famous ride to warn the countryside that the soldiers were coming in 1775.

Just after the Paul Revere House we walked to the Old North Church. Old North Church is vital to the story of Paul Revere as it was from the church steeple that the colonists knew if the British Soldiers were going to go the the countryside to capture Sam Adams and John Hancock by land or if by sea. Lanterns were hung in the steeple. One if by land and two if by sea. After Paul Revere and other riders had this information, they darted off to Lexington and Concord and all places in-between to warn the people that soldiers were on their way. 

The Old North Church is still an active Episcopalian church.

After Old North we went to Quincy Market to choose what to eat for lunch. It wasn't easy as there are 54 different options! After lunch we took a quick detour to a fish market to see the differences between our spiny lobster and a New England lobster. The one we got to see weighed over ten pounds. They also have giant claws on their hands and our spiny lobster do not. 

After that it was off to Lexington and Concord to see where the first battles of the Revolution were fought. 
Paul Revere House


Paul Revere Statue with Old North Church in background

Inside Old North Church

Lunch time foolishness at Quincy Market

More lunch fun
10 pound lobster
Check out the claws!

Shekinah with a diorama of the Battle at Lexington

Lexington Green Museum

 Brief pause after lunch to see what a New England Lobster looks like. Huge!

Spotted a snapping turtle at the Old North Bridge in Concord


Minute Man Statue in Concord

On the Bridge

From the other side


Old North Bridge with Minute Man Statue in background in Concord






We then finished our day up with a tour of Fenway Park. Fenway Park is home to the Boston Red Sox.  Fenway Park is the oldest stadium in the United States. In fact it opened only five days after the Titanic sank in 1912! 103 years old this year. On the tour we got to see all aspect of the stadium From up close, the Green Monster Seats, the media room behind home plate, to the right field seats. Unfortunately the team is in Oakland playing the A's so no game for us to see this year! A neat thing similar to what Kualapu'u School has is a garden. We were told that vegetables are hard to grow in New England. So at Fenway Park They laid down a bunch of astro turf and made vegetable boxes. Very similar to our school.






From the Green Monster



Monster Seats



Lia-Chae on top of the Monster









Still on top






Checking out the view

Looking down at the Fenway Garden

Fenway Garden
Right Field 

Inside the media room at Fenway

From the media room


Out in right
After dinner it was off to Dillons. Dillons is a restaurant that is attached to a fire station, very interesting. Lots of tired bodies downed burgers, mac n cheese (not the way they are used too), chicken, or chicken caesar salad. Finished up with some ice cream. Lots of big talking about going swimming but that didn't happen. We are a tired group and sleep is what we need. After traveling and touring for 29 hours it is time to get some much needed rest.
Dinner

Dinner

Mac and Cheese, Burgers, Chicken, or Chicken Caesar Salad was what was on tap.
Showing off our dinner
The below video is an example of what happens when you've been traveling and touring for over 24 straight hours. This was taken between a very short ride from Lexington to Concord. The bounce back was unbelievable though as once we got to Concord everybody got right up and we went for a 1/3 mile walk to Old North Bridge in Concord. Great job team. Can't wait for day 2 in Boston tomorrow!




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